"Even if it was only the identity from a one-day experience card, that feeling was far too real."
"No…"
"When Pakura comes back, I'm definitely going to give her a proper whipping and get my revenge."
The moment Rasa came down from the third floor, he saw Temari beating Kankuro.
"Father."
Hearing footsteps, Temari turned around. The instant she saw Rasa, she quickly stopped, hid her hands behind her back, and put on a slightly embarrassed expression as she explained herself.
"Kankuro wasn't listening, so I hit him."
"Where's your mother?"
Temari let out a small sigh of relief and pointed toward the kitchen.
"She's in the kitchen."
Rasa nodded.
"Take Kankuro back to the room."
"Yes, Father."
Temari looked at Kankuro.
One of Kankuro's fingers was stuffed into his mouth, and tears were shimmering in his eyes.
Temari narrowed her eyes.
Then she picked Kankuro up and carried him back to the room.
"All you know how to do is cry."
"If you keep crying, I'll beat you until you really cry."
When Rasa entered the kitchen, Karura was busy preparing dinner.
He had not used up the full duration of the Hozuki Gengetsu one-day experience card.
Originally, he had wanted to hold on a little longer and see if he could make a few more moves, cause Kirigakure even greater losses.
But Pakura had chased too quickly.
That was why Rasa had used the one-day experience card in the dead of night, yet now it was still only close to evening.
Rasa quietly approached Karura from behind.
"Karura."
Only when his warm breath brushed against her ear did Karura realize he had arrived, and her face instantly turned red.
"My husband."
Yet Karura did not even offer the slightest reproach. She simply accepted Rasa's teasing with gentle softness.
From behind, Rasa wrapped his arms around her entire body.
Karura's scent filled his nose. Feeling the softness of his wife in his arms, Rasa suddenly felt much calmer.
Outside the home, he remained tense at all times.
Sunagakure's situation was simply too terrible.
Rasa had to rack his brains and exhaust every method he could think of just to improve Sunagakure's condition little by little.
But Rasa understood this clearly.
While he was making plans for Sunagakure, the people of the other ninja villages had not been idle either.
For example, Kirigakure's ambush plan against Pakura this time, carried out in collusion with a traitor from Sunagakure.
Rasa felt that if he had not happened to use the one-day experience card and create Hozuki Gengetsu at just the right moment, then even if Pakura had not died in Kirigakure's ambush, she definitely would not have escaped so easily.
And the number of Sunagakure ninja killed would certainly not have been this low.
Not to mention the fact that while pursuing Kirigakure's ambush force, they had managed to kill dozens of Kirigakure elite ninja.
"My husband, will you be eating at home tonight?"
Rasa shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. I still have a lot of urgent work to handle. I'll have to trouble you to look after Temari and Kankuro."
Karura nodded, but her eyes dimmed slightly.
Rasa turned her around to face him.
"When the shinobi world is at peace, I won't be this busy anymore."
"But not now. After all, I am the Kazekage. I have to find a way to help Sunagakure survive the crisis right in front of us. That is the first priority. I'll have to leave things at home to you, Karura."
Karura revealed a gentle smile.
"My husband, don't worry. I'll take good care of the home."
Karura watched Rasa's departing figure for a long time before finally withdrawing her gaze.
"When will the shinobi world finally know peace?"
"Why do those ninja villages have to insist on war? Wouldn't it be better to just live their own lives peacefully?"
When Rasa arrived at the Kazekage Building, the first thing he did was handle the stack of documents piled on his desk.
As Kazekage, there was simply too much official business to deal with.
Even though Rasa had already processed quite a bit before using the one-day experience card, by now a great deal had piled up again.
That made Rasa's head ache.
"These Kage really do hold too much power in their own hands."
"No wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi was still burning the midnight oil at such an old age."
"Even Naruto, with the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, still couldn't keep up, panting every day and bent over from exhaustion."
"The main issue is that the Kage here do everything themselves."
Rasa looked at the document in his hand.
It was only a minor dispute between villagers, a trivial little matter—yet it had still been sent all the way to his desk for him to handle personally.
There was even a C-rank mission request that required his review and confirmation.
"This is ridiculous!"
"Reform. There has to be reform."
"Once the village stabilizes a little, I'm carrying out reforms."
"The less important powers need to be delegated."
"The miscellaneous tasks need to be delegated too."
"Split the authority and keep the supervision in place, and there won't be major problems. Besides, this is the shinobi world. As long as the one at the top is strong enough, the people below won't be able to overturn anything."
Rasa truly did not want to waste his time on such trivial matters.
"But in the end, it still comes back to one issue."
"Talent."
"Sunagakure has too little talent."
"I need to cultivate some talented people—or poach some from other villages."
The first place Rasa thought of was Konoha.
Konoha had so much talent it was practically overflowing.
Then Rasa thought of Kirigakure.
Kirigakure actually had quite a bit of talent too. Even though Sunagakure and Kirigakure were at war, Kirigakure itself was not a united monolith.
The extermination of bloodline clans had not happened only in Konoha. It had happened in Kirigakure as well.
"There's a chance the Bamboo-Take clan could be brought in."
"Especially after Kirigakure moves to wipe them out."
One name surfaced in Rasa's mind.
"Kimimaro."
As a member of the Kaguya clan, after leaving Kirigakure, he had become utterly loyal to Orochimaru, valuing Orochimaru's commands above even his own life.
The sky grew darker and darker.
At last, Rasa finished dealing with the documents on his desk.
"Call Ebizo over."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
Before long, Ebizo arrived at the Kazekage's office.
"Kazekage-sama."
Rasa took out a roughly sketched portrait.
"This is…?"
Ebizo took it, but clearly did not understand.
"Ebizo, do you recognize this person?"
Ebizo stared at it for a while.
"He looks somewhat familiar."
"I think this person is from the Akayama clan. I saw him once when the Akayama clan invited me to one of their celebrations. Kazekage-sama, what is it? Why are you looking for him?"
Rasa's brows slowly drew together.
"The Akayama clan…"
"Ebizo, how has the Akayama clan been doing these past few years?"
Within Sunagakure, the Akayama clan was not a minor ninja clan. Its size was roughly comparable to Konoha's Aburame clan, and they specialized in using Wind Release and ninja tools in battle.
"The Akayama clan has been flourishing over the past few years. Their numbers have grown, and their business ventures seem to be doing better and better as well… To be able to achieve that under the current circumstances, their current clan head must be quite capable."
Rasa narrowed his eyes slightly.
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